An Army Assembled
by evansandblack
Summary: A teenage Tom Riddle begins developing his identity as Lord Voldemort, his plan to rise to power, and develops a loyal following all while remaining a model student at Hogwarts. But of course he can't do it all by himself so he enlists the help of his two lovely friends, Aubry and Celeste who are just as power hungry and blood thirsty as he is. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

My hands shook as I prepared to run through the barrier to Platform Nine and Three Quarters. My friends were right on the other side of the brick wall and I was somewhat nervous to see them. I took a deep breath, took hold of my trolley, and made my way through. I burst through onto the platform and was greeted by the sight of bustling witches and wizards along with the bright red Hogwarts Express. A smile immediately found its way onto my face. My excitement couldn't be contained and I barely noticed my mother and father come through the barrier behind me.

The familiar sound of my best friend calling my name was one of the greatest sounds I'd ever heard. I whirled around before I finally spotted her pushing her way through a group of first years.

"Aubry!" I shrieked, abandoning my trolley and parents to get to her.

"Celeste!" She shrieked back, throwing her arms out and jumping towards me.

We embraced each other tightly and I realized that she'd grown at least two inches over the summer, dwarfing me even more than she did the year before.

"Celeste, oh my goodness, you absolutely _have_ to see Tom!" The blonde said, smiling wildly.

I laughed. "And why is that?"

Her smile grew bigger and slightly more wicked. "He's absolutely gorgeous! He grew so much over the summer and he's so good looking, Cel. You're going to be all over him, I already know."

My hands shook even more. Tom was already cute, so cute that Aubry and I had been pining over the boy since we met him first year after we were all sorted into Slytherin. If he got any more attractive, I wouldn't know what to do. Despite my nerves, I found myself asking where he was, not even bothering to hide the excitement in my voice.

"He's with Orion. They're saving a car for us so we don't end up getting stuck with any Mudbloods." She explained.

I nodded. "I'm going to get my luggage loaded and I'll come find you right after." I told her and she scampered off towards the back of the train. Getting my luggage put on the train only took a few minutes and I hurried back to my parents. They hugged me tightly, wished me luck on my fourth year and made me promise to write home often. With a final I love you I ran onto the train and went looking for my friends.

I was nearly all the way to the back of the train when I heard the loud, high pitched laugh that I'd grown to love. I anxiously took off in a sprint and found the car. Aubry sat in one corner of the car, Orion Black sat directly to her left, to his left was Abraxas Malfoy, and sitting opposite Aubry was my sweet cousin Will Callaway. Tom Riddle stood just inside the doorway, his back to me, still laughing at his own joke.

Aubry wasn't lying when she said he'd grown, he had to be nearly eight inches taller than me, his shoulders had grown broad and strong. His vaguely curly, black hair remained the same. I gently tapped his shoulder once and he turned quickly. The baby face he'd been sporting since first year had faded greatly. His eyes, almost black and so much darker than my stormy grey irises, still had that mischievous glint hidden within them. His hands immediately went to my waist, his long fingers wrapping around me and pulling me close.

"Did you get shorter?" He teased.

I playfully shoved his chest. "Shut up, Tom."

I sat down beside Will and Tom sat next to me after pulling the door shut, locking it, and lowering the small curtain. The car filled with chatter as miles and miles of land flew past the window of the train, time passing faster than we'd imagined.

Tom slung his arm around my shoulders as we talked something he'd done countless times before. It seemed like he always had one arm around Aubry or me, sometimes he even had his arms around both of his. He kept us very close to him at all times and we loved it.

There was a tap on the door and a woman called in to see if we wanted anything from the trolley. Aubry jumped up immediately and opened the door. I pulled a few sickles of my pocket to buy some sweets from the plump woman. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Tom eyeing the cart. Being orphaned at a young age and not even knowing about magic or the fact that he was a wizard until it was his time to come to Hogwarts, he had no money.

"Can we get two of everything?" I asked.

The woman looked a bit shocked but gave me a nod. I handed over a few galleons and she gave me the sweets. I dropped them onto the seat between Tom and myself. "Take whatever you like." I told him.

A soft pink colour spread across his cheeks. "You're too much."

I giggled and tried to pry my eyes away from his. "I missed you over the summer."

"Well, that's good, because I missed you too." He said, leaning towards me, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

"Oi, share a liquorice wand and a kiss and get it over with, why don't you?" Abraxas said rather loudly.

My cheeks burned red and I covered my face as everyone laughed. His comment was forgotten as the rest of them started their conversation up again but my face was undoubtedly still very pink.

"There's no need to blush, sweetheart. We're all friends here." Tom smiled, taking a bite of one of the pumpkin pasties I'd bought.

I playfully shook my head and looked down.

"And since we're all friends here, I feel very comfortable telling all of you about a plan I have for this year." He stated, his voice was slightly hushed but demanding.

The light conversation ended immediately and we all watched him, waiting for him to speak again.

"I'm going looking for the Chamber of Secrets." He stated, the tone in his voice showed that he was confident he would find it at some point. "And when I do, I'm going to release the beast hiding within to purge the school of Mudbloods."

I smiled wickedly but the rest of our friends didn't seem so keen on the idea.

The doubt on Aubry's face was almost offensive.

"Oh come on, you lot. It has to be there somewhere. Why not try to find it? And think about it, a school free of Mudbloods! It would be a dream come true." I said cheerfully. "Only the best of the best."

Tom bumped my knee with his own, silently thanking me for being so supportive and willing to help. I bumped his leg in response and he chuckled softly, wrapping his arm back around me.

"How much further out are we?" Orion asked suddenly, squirming in his seat.

"Probably not far." I stated. "Why are you so anxious?"

"I'm hungry." He whined.

I tossed him a cauldron cake and he thanked me. "You are a queen."

"I know." I grinned, carefully opening up a chocolate frog.

The frog, however, was trying to make a run for it the moment I got the package opened. He leapt towards the floor but Tom caught him in midair and handed him back to me. "Your frog, madam."

"Why thank you, sir." I said with a laugh before promptly biting the frog's head off.

"Which card did you get?" Will asked.

I looked at it and tossed it to the side. "Helga Hufflepuff, again."

After another twenty minutes of casual conversation, the train began to lose speed and I knew we were approaching the castle. We all scrambled to put on our robes seeing as we'd been too distracted to do so before. Just as we were all ready, the train came to a complete stop. Abraxas left the car first, followed by Orion, then Will. Tom pushed his way out, forcing back a couple of Ravenclaw third years so that Aubry and I could step out in front of him.

We slowly made our way off the train and towards the castle. Aubry and I walked on either side of Tom, never straying more than a step away from him. Tom noticed a group of Gryffindor boys eyeing us intensely and he immediately wrapped his arms around us. His left arm held tightly to Aubry's waist, his right arm around my waist, pulling us closer to him. The boys looked away immediately, knowing better than to covet something, or two somethings, that didn't belong to them.

All of the students other than the first years filed into the school and went to the Great Hall, finding seats at their house's respective tables. Tom sat down near the front, Aubry and I still on either side of him. Abraxas sat directly across from Aubry, Orion across from Tom, and Will was across from me. Our chatter grew louder as the room filled and the volume level rose, making it near impossible to hear each other without shouting.

"Hey, Celeste. I dare you to charm Dippet's hat right off his head." Abraxas challenged, nodding his head in the direction of the pathetic headmaster.

I laughed and produced my wand, a 12 inch piece of art, blackthorn wood with a dragon heartstring core, from inside my robes. I'd barely pointed my wand in the headmaster's direction when I felt Tom glaring at me.

"Celeste, put your wand away. You can't get in trouble on the first day back, I won't allow it." He said.

I rolled my eyes. "Tom, lighten up. It's just a little bit of fun."

"Put your wand away." He said again.

I sighed and slipped it back into my robe. "Fine."

His voice took on a tone of warning that nearly made me cringe. "And don't even roll your eyes at me again."

"And if I do?" I challenged playfully.

"You won't very much like the consequences." He said, his voice much more seductive than frightening this time.

Laughter suddenly burst out from all around the Great Hall as Armando Dippet's hat began levitating just above his reach and he swung his arms wildly trying to grasp it. Tom and I noticed the smirk on Aubry's face and her wand pointed towards the hat.

I smiled, knowing that since Tom had stopped me, she would take the opportunity to do it while he was distracted with scolding me.

"Aubry, stop!" Tom ordered.

She immediately let the hat fall, looking sheepishly at Tom. "Oops?"

He couldn't help but laugh. "What am I going to do with the two of you? I am only one man. How can I possibly keep both of you out of trouble?"

"You could always lock us in the Chamber once you find it." Aubry suggested, nudging him with her elbow.

"Don't tempt me." He joked.

Aubry and I grinned at each other.

"Ah, dearest Tom…" I sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder and trailing off.

"All we do is tempt you." Aubry finished, leaning her head against his opposite shoulder.

Tom smiled. "Yes, you do."


	2. Chapter 2

"I know Dumbledore doesn't like me, he doesn't trust me. And I'm sure exactly how to get in his good graces." Tom said, his head resting on my leg as he stared at a spot on the ceiling.

"I don't see why he doesn't like you though. You haven't done anything wrong, not that he knows of anyways. And you're certainly not failing his class." Aubry said from her perch on the arm of the sofa.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" I suggested. "I could mention your name a few times; subtly try to convince him that what he thinks of you is wrong."

He shook his head. "No, not yet anyways. It would seem a bit suspicious and then he would definitely be keeping way too close of an eye on me. Not to mention that if he found out just how close we are, he would be watching both of you as well. The last thing we need is someone watching all of us; we won't get anything done that way."

The common room door opened and I heard someone come striding in. "Shouldn't the three of you be in bed?"

"Shouldn't you?" I scowled to the girl whose name I'd never bothered to learn. She looked oddly familiar and I realized she was the girl who had turned in Aubry and me for sneaking into the Forbidden Forest during our second year, successfully earning us two weeks of detention.

"Go to bed, all of you." She tried to stare us down but failed miserably.

Tom lifted his head from my leg, allowing me to stand up, and I walked towards the girl who took a few steps back. "A prefect cowering away from a little fourth year… Pathetic."

A small twitch of her hand gave the signal that she was considering reaching for her wand.

"Try to draw your wand and I promise to blast you across the room before you can get the damn thing out of your robes." I warned.

She took another step back and I smirked, producing my wand from the inside of my sleeve with a simple wrist movement.

Suddenly Tom was on his feet. "That's enough, Celeste. You've had your fun."

I turned towards him with a pout.

He just shook his head. "Not tonight."

"But Tom…" Aubry began.

"No." He said, silencing her. "Off to bed, both of you. You have Quidditch practice in the morning and I don't want either of you falling asleep on your brooms."

We nodded simultaneously. "Goodnight, Tom."

"Goodnight, girls." He said, moving towards the staircase leading towards the boys' rooms.

Aubry and I ran towards our dormitory, leaving the confused prefect standing in the middle of the common room.

The other girls who slept in the room with us were all asleep so we quietly changed into pajamas, got into our beds, whispered goodnight, and went to sleep.

Not many hours later I felt a smack on my shoulder and I jolted awake. Aubry was standing over me. "Up. It's time for practice."

I groaned and rolled out of bed. I slipped into my Quidditch robes while I was still half asleep and followed Aubry out of the castle. We retrieved our brooms before heading towards the pitch.

"You're late." Winky Crockett, the Slytherin captain said as we approached.

"Sorry, some of us had a hard time waking up." Aubry laughed and nudged my arm.

I glared at her as best I could with how tired I was. She only laughed harder.

"Well, if you don't mind, it would be nice to start practice." Winky said.

"Yeah, yeah." I muttered. "Let's get on with it then."

We mounted our brooms and kicked off, rising quickly into the air.

We had been on the house Quidditch team since our second year so we weren't new to early morning practices. Aubry was a chaser, although according to Winky, she would make a damn good seeker as well. I, however, played as one of the team's beaters. When I first joined the team, people were skeptical of my talent as a beater based on my size. She looked like a chaser, tall and lean and fast. I didn't much resemble a beater, I was very curvy and short, the shortest player on the team. Everyone but Aubry was surprised by me on the day of our very first game. I was small but strong and aggressive. Aubry preferred to call me violent rather than just aggressive, and I never disagreed with her.

Our practice was quicker than usual, just a few drills that we got done with in little over an hour. Aubry and I were the last to leave the pitch, just like always. I'd always wanted to try playing keeper but I never had the opportunity. When the rest of the team left, I positioned myself in front of the hoops while Aubry tried to shoot the quaffle past me. Clearly she won our little scrimmage. She said I did okay for a keeper which I suppose was true. But I never really stood a chance against her, she was faster than I realized and saw gaps in my strategy that I didn't even know existed. Out of approximately twenty shots that she took, I blocked maybe nine of them.

We put our brooms away when we were done and headed towards the bathroom to shower seeing as we were both drenched in sweat. After getting cleaned up and changed, we headed to the great hall for breakfast. We found Tom sitting by himself eating a bowl of Pixie Puffs and reading a book that was propped up against a large jug of milk. We sat down beside him and indulged in our typical post practice meal of toast and sausages.

I glanced at the book Tom was so focused on that he had failed to notice our arrival. His copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ was propped open to the section about basilisks.

Tom was often very hard to distract especially when he was so intensely focused, because of this Aubry and I opted not to bother him from his reading. We talked quietly as we ate, allowing Tom to continue his reading which was most likely for some type of assignment.

By the time Aubry and I had eaten our meal Tom had been finished for at least ten minutes but was still engrossed in the passage about basilisks. However, we needed to go to class.

"We have class." Aubry said, tapping his shoulder lightly.

He didn't appear to have noticed her.

"Tom, darling," I said. "We have transfiguration."

Still, he didn't react.

I waved my hand in front of him and his head snapped up, looking at me right away. "We have class."

He nodded and closed his book, slipping it into his bag and the bag onto his shoulder. We stood up and walked out of the great hall.

"How much do you know about basilisks?" He asked us suddenly as we turned down another corridor.

Aubry and I shrugged.

"A bit, I suppose." I said. "They're massive, of course. And their eyes have the ability to kill anyone who sees them."

"Their skin is armoured to deflect spells just like dragons. And they can live up to 900 years." Aubry followed up.

"Their venom is extremely deadly and the only antidote to it is phoenix tears which are extremely rare. And their eyes don't always kill, if they're seen indirectly a person becomes petrified. Mandrake restorative draughts will heal someone who's been petrified." I added.

"Phoenixes are immune to their eyes and the crowing of a rooster is fatal to them." She continued.

I smiled. "They're incredible, really."

By this point we arrived at the appropriate classroom so we went to take our seats. Aubry and I shared the desk in the front middle of the classroom, Tom sat next to Abraxas to our left, and Orion was sitting to our right with Will.

Professor Dumbledore walked into the room just a few minutes after everyone had found their seats. He started class right away and I tried my best to listen and quickly scribble down the notes I would need. About fifteen minutes into class, when Dumbledore wasn't looking, a folded up piece of parchment fluttered onto our desk.

I reached for it and carefully unfolded it, looking up every few seconds to be sure Dumbledore wouldn't notice.

Aubry and I read the note. " _I'm skipping lunch to go look for the Chamber. Come with me?"_

After Transfiguration, Aubry, Tom, and I all had a break, a free period, lunch, and then another free period. The empty time totaled up to almost three and a half hours. It would give us plenty of time to make some headway without missing any classes.

We both gave Tom a quick nod and I hid the piece of parchment in my robes.

For the rest of the class, I couldn't seem to focus. I couldn't wait to go exploring the castle and all I was thinking about was where the Chamber could be.

"Ms Van Middlesworth, need I remind you that I don't spend an hour talking for my own benefit? You will find that paying attention in my class will be greatly rewarding for you." Dumbledore said and I heard a few snickers from the Gryffindor students in our class.

"I'm so sorry, professor. I promise not to let it happen again." I said sweetly.

He gave me a smile and a nod before continuing.

I managed to take most of the notes I needed during the remainder of the class although I wasn't absorbing anything he was talking about. I would undoubtedly need to spend some time studying that evening.

After what seemed like forever, the hour was complete and class was over. As we were packing up our supplies and getting ready to leave, Dumbledore asked to speak with me for a moment.

"I'll meet you back at the common room." I said to Aubry and Tom before they left the room.

When the rest of the students had left, Dumbledore spoke.

"Celeste, you are one of my best students and I have no doubt that you will make an incredible witch. However, since term started you seem to be very distracted during my lessons. Is there something that seems to be bothering you?" He asked.

I was surprised by his genuine concern and needed to gather my thoughts before I spoke. "There's nothing bothering me, sir. I've just been quite tired since term started and Quidditch practice is wearing me out as well. I'll try to focus more in class, professor."

"Your parents attended Hogwarts at the same time as I did, Ms Van Middlesworth, were you aware of that?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, sir."

"You remind me very much of them. You're more like your mother than your father. I believe you get your Qudditch skills, your ambition, and your strong attitude from your father. But from your mother you gained your knack for Herbology, your charm, and your incredible academic abilities. However, there are other aspects to your personality that I saw in neither of your parents. It seems that you have a much better knack for trouble than your parents and you associate yourself with people who have a very similar way of finding themselves into bad situations. I implore you to focus on your studies and not what your friends ask of you." He said.

I rolled my eyes internally but gave him a large smile. "Thank you for your concern and your kind words, professor. I'll definitely try to put my studies ahead of what my friends want. I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me, sir."

He smiled warmly. "Go on, now. Enjoy your free time."

I plastered another fake smile onto my face and walked out of the room. Once I was in the corridor, I nearly ran the whole way to the common room. Tom and Aubry were sitting in the corner, talking in hushed tones. After running up to the dormitory, dropping my bag onto my bed, and running back down to the common room, we headed into the corridor.

"Where do we start, Tom? There's so much to explore, so much to find. How do we begin?" I asked.

"We'll just start at one end of the castle and go from there. Even if we can't find the entrance to the Chamber yet, we can have an idea of where it's not." He said.

Aubry and I nodded as we followed him down countless corridors and sets of stairs. We found our way to the lowest levels of the castle. I could feel the change in temperature the lower got and before long I'd begun shivering.

Tom shrugged out of his robes and handed them to me, leaving him in only his white button down and grey vest.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

He nodded. "Put it on. I'm not cold."

I thanked him and slid my arms into the sleeves. The bottom hem was dragged behind me seeing as Tom was so much taller than me. I ignored the difference in size because I immediately felt much warmer.

As we reached the basement of the castle, we realized just how much ground we had to cover.

"Should we split up?" Aubry suggested.

"No, absolutely not. We have no idea what could be down here and I'm not going to take the chance of either of you getting hurt." Tom said.

"Tom, if we split up we'll have a better chance of finding something. There are so many different chambers down here. If we split up we can check three at a time and if it really does exist, we'll find it that much faster." I said.

He shook his head. "No. Do you have any idea how I would feel if one of you got hurt? Neither of you are leaving my side unless I know it's safe. I know you're more than capable of taking care of yourselves but I'm not willing to risk it."

Tom stopped walking in the middle of the corridor and we stopped just a step behind him. He turned around. "Before we got any further, we're going to set a few ground rules. Rule one: You both stay within five feet of me at all times. Rule two: Keep your wands in your hands and be ready to use them at a moment's notice. Rule three: If I tell you to stop moving, stop moving. Rule four: If you see something that I did not, tell me. Rule five: If I tell you to run, do it. Run as fast as you can."

"You want us to just leave you down here?" I asked.

"You can't be serious. We're not going to abandon you." Aubry said.

"I am and you will. If anything happens, anything at all, go find the others. The only way you come looking for me after that is if they are with you. Are we clear?"

Aubry and I nodded. "Yes, Tom."

"Good. Now let's start looking."

Suddenly a far too familiar voice chimed from the opposite end of the corridor. "Ah, dear Tom, you won't be looking for anything today."

We spun around to see Dumbledore standing there, looking disappointed. "If you'll follow me, I'm sure Headmaster Dippet will want to know about three fourth years wandering around in the castle basement."

 **!Thank you guys so much for reading. I'm going to be trying to upload a new chapter at least once a week, probably during the weekends. Please review and let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** _I'm sorry if there are typos or anything that's kind of off. I just finished this up and I want to get it posted so I didn't read over it more than once. Regardless, I hope you guys like this chapter. Please, please, please review. It means a lot to know what you guys think, it really does. Thanks. xx_

We stood in a line in front of the desk in the headmaster's office. Headmaster Dippet stood in front of us. He didn't look angry, just confused.

The slightly pained look on Aubry's face made it clear that she was nervous. If Tom was nervous, he didn't show it. I wasn't worried. Dippet wouldn't expel us; at most we would have a week or two of detention.

"May I ask why you were wandering about the basement rather than using your free time to study?" Dippet asked.

Tom spoke before I had the chance to. "Sir, we were merely exploring. We've seen almost all of the castle save for the lower levels. I was interested in looking around and I convinced Aubry and Celeste to go with me."

"Surely you ladies were aware the chambers are off limits for all students." He said.

Aubry and I nodded.

"Then why would you agree to go if you knew it was wrong?" He asked.

My voice trembled slightly as I began speaking and I mentally cursed myself. "Sir, I was also very interested in exploring the chambers. Since term has just started we don't have much studying to do so when Tom brought it up I was more than willing to go with him. Aubry was a bit hesitant but I basically forced her to go with us. She didn't even want to be there so please don't punish her."

"Is this true, Ms Desrosier?" He asked her and she gave a small nod.

"Yes, sir."

He frowned slightly. "You may return to your common room, Ms Desrosier. But you are to go straight there."

She nodded again. "Thank you, sir."

She turned on her heel and hurried out of the office.

"Now, as for you two…" He began but trailed off. "Ms Van Middlesworth why are you wearing two sets of robes?"

I looked down. "Oh, sorry. Tom let me wear his seeing as I was cold."

I let Tom's robes slide off my shoulders before handing them over to him. He pulled them on quickly.

"Now that that's settled… You're both going to be spending one hour every evening for the next week cleaning without magic. Your first detention will be tonight at 7 pm."

Tom and I nodded before Dippet excused us and we rushed from his office.

"This is absolutely ridiculous. I have never once in my life cleaned anything without magic. I barely even have to clean at all when I'm at home." I whined. "Do you think we'll at least be together? If I have to do it all alone with no one to talk to I'll probably throw myself off the astronomy tower."

I looked to my left to see that Tom had fallen a few steps behind and was frozen in his spot. "Tom? Are you alright?"

"Can you hear that?" He asked.

The corridor was completely silent. "Hear what, exactly?"

He shook his head. "Never mind."

I was tempted to ask what he thought he heard but I knew better than to pry. "Let's get back to the common room. I'm sure Aubry's having a right stress worrying about this affecting her chances of being Head Girl."

We made our way down a few corridors before reaching the dungeon. Tom muttered the password and I followed him inside.

Aubry was sitting in a leather arm chair in the far corner of the room. I rushed towards her.

"You're not in trouble are you?" She asked us immediately.

I shook my head. "No, not really. A week of detention is all we got. Although it's magic free cleaning and I'm sure we'll be completely miserable."

She laughed a bit. "Do you think he has any idea why we were down there?"

"Absolutely not. He doesn't have a clue." Tom said.

"How are you feeling? You seem stressed." I asked.

She nodded. "A bit stressed. All I want is to be Head Girl. What if I actually end up with a chance to be Head Girl but Dippet remembers this and doesn't give me the spot? What if this messes everything up?"

I knelt in front of her. "Aubry, as far as he's concerned you're completely innocent in all of this. We know you care about this and that's why we took the fall."

"Thank you for that, by the way." She said, smiling at both of us. "You didn't have to and I just really appreciate it."

Tom sat down in another armchair just a few feet away, his mind clearly on other things. I wondered if he was thinking about what he'd possibly heard in the corridor. Regardless of what was on his mind, he surely didn't want to be distracted from his thoughts.

I pulled a chair over from another corner and took a seat. The common room was uncharacteristically empty.

"Have we missed lunch?" I asked.

Aubry sighed. "Yes. Everyone was going back to class when I was leaving Dippet's office. Are you hungry, too?"

I nodded. "I'm starving."

"I wish we could sneak some food from the kitchens but I don't know how to get in." She said.

"All you have to do is tickle the pear." Tom stated.

To say I was confused was an understatement. "Come again?"

He looked at us, a small smile on his lips. "To get into the kitchens. If you tickle the pear on the painting it will laugh and turn into a green doorknob then you can go inside."

Aubry laughed. "Where did you learn this from?"

"From your brother, of course." He said.

"Ashton told you? Why would he tell you and not me?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Did you ever ask him?"

"Well, no. But I hardly think that's necessary. He should've just told me. We tell each other everything." She was clearly offended and she continued her rant for another five minutes before Tom cut her off.

"Would it be too much of a risk to go looking for the Chamber twice in a day?"

I smiled at his eagerness. "It would. Especially after receiving a week of detention. Perhaps we can go looking again in a few days."

He nodded. "Of course."

"I don't know what you two want to do but I need to go over my arithmancy assignment before class." I said standing up and walking towards the dormitory stairs.

I hurried to retrieve my rucksack before trotting back down the stairs. I dropped my bag onto the table and took a seat, removing a roll of parchment and my _Numerology and Grammatica_ textbook. I unrolled the parchment and began reading through the essay I'd written. However, I still had essentially no idea whether or not what I'd written as actually worth anything.

I had this sinking feeling that the essay was worthless and I tapped my fingers on the table nervously. I had never received a failing grade on assignment in my entire life and I didn't feel like starting then.

"Are you alright, Celeste?" Tom asked.

My head snapped up. "Hmm?"

"You look like you're about to burst into tears." He stated.

I chewed the corner of my lip. "Yes, well, I'd prefer to not fail this class horribly. Or at all, for that matter."

He reached across the table and pulled my essay towards him.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm checking your work is what I'm doing." He smiled and began reading.

I turned to Aubry. "Did you finish the assignment for potions that's due Monday?"

She nodded. "Please, I've had that done since the day Slughorn set the assignment."

I smirked. "As if he'd fail you anyways."

She laughed. "True. He loves me. He's daft but it works out in my favor."

"Slughorn's not daft." Tom said, still reading my essay.

"You just like him because he'll tell you anything you want to know." I teased.

He smiled. "I suppose I can't argue with that."

Moments later Orion came striding into the common room, followed by Abraxas, Will, and Ashton.

Aubry jumped up at the sight of her brother. "How could you tell Tom about the entrance to the kitchens but not me? I'm your sister after all. Perhaps I shouldn't have told you about the secret passages that Celeste and I found."

I tuned her out as she shouted at him and I spoke to Orion. "Where have you been?"

"Outside. Where have you been, would be a better question?"

I explained to him, Abraxas, and Will that the three of us and had made our way down to the dungeons to search but our exploration was cut short when Dumbledore caught us and the unfortunate punishment that Tom and I had been given. Abraxas and Orion looked as horrified as I felt when learning what we were doing for detention. Will had experienced his fair share of similar detentions so the thought of him didn't irk him as it did us.

"Better hope you're not cleaning in the trophy room. You can only polish a single trophy so many times before you want to beat yourself to death with it." Will said.

I couldn't help but laugh.

The door to the common room opened again and in walked Edmond Lestrange.

"Where have you been?" I asked. "You've missed the first week of classes, Edmond."

"I was…. I was with my father. I wrote you weeks ago telling you that we were going to Wales. Did none of you get my letters?" He asked.

I sighed. "Clearly not. What were you doing in Wales anyways?"

He shook his head. "Long story. I'll explain later, I promise. We need to call a meeting tonight."

Tom stood immediately, leaving my essay forgotten on the table. "A meeting? What for?"

"About Dumbledore." He stated. "Upon my arrival today he asked me to 'keep an eye on you.' Not just you, Tom, but Aubry and Celeste as well. Did something happen with the three of you?"

"The meeting. We'll discuss all of it at the meeting. All of the Knights, eight pm, Room of Requirement. Make sure no one is followed." Tom ordered.

"Tom, we have detention tonight at seven. We should probably do half past eight." I suggested.

He gave me a nod. "Right, half past."

Edmond went towards the boys' dormitory, probably to get settled in. Aubry was still arguing with her brother about not telling her important things while Abraxas, Orion, and Will watched the entire exchange. Aubry and Ashton began to look scarily similar when they were angry, their mouths turned up in the same enraged half smirk and their eyes turned into dangerous slits.

"Your essay is fine, by the way. It's perfect, actually." Tom said.

"Hmm?" I hummed, turning back to him.

"Your essay. I looked over the whole thing and didn't see anything wrong."

I smiled. "Thank you so much, Tom."

"They're probably going to be at it for a while. Do you want to take a walk down to the Black Lake before we have to go to arithmancy?" He asked.

I nodded and stuffed my belongings back into my bag and slinging it over my shoulder before following him out the door.

"All of this is going to be our responsibility, you know?" He asked as we walked out of the castle.

"What is, exactly?" I asked.

"Finding the chamber." He stated. "Aubry wants to be Head Girl so badly; we have to keep her out of trouble so that she actually can be."

"You know she's not going to want us going by ourselves though…" I trailed off.

He nodded once. "I do know that. But she's smart enough to realize that each time we were to get caught, her chance would drop a little more."

"What about you, though? You want to be Head Boy." I reminded.

Tom smiled a bit. "Not truthfully. I would just take it as a sign that Dippet trusts me and it would force Dumbledore to trust me at least a little bit more. It's all for show, Celeste. Surely you understand that."

I nodded. "I do."

"Does your mother still expect you to marry Brax?" He asked suddenly.

I laughed. "I think she does. Nothing would make her more proud than for her daughter to marry a Malfoy."

"And you? Do you want to?"

"No." I did not hesitate with my answer. "I adore, Abraxas, I do. He's sweet and he's my friend but I don't want to marry him. I don't love him in that sense of the word. She would also be more than happy if I were to marry directly into the Black family."

"Oh, you and Orion, that'd be a sight to see." He teased.

I lightly smacked his arm. "Hush. I don't even know if I ever want to get married."

"Really?" He cocked an eyebrow. "That's surprising, especially coming from you."

I chuckled. "You're right. A Pureblooded witch who isn't sure if she wants to carry on the family line… I suppose I don't have a choice though. If I don't marry my family will probably disown me."

"I guess I'm lucky that I don't have anyone to let down if I don't produce an heir."

I think he meant it as a joke but it came out a bit darker than it should.

"Tom, I… How old were you? When your mother…" I trailed off.

"She died very shortly after I was born. My father left her before I was born. I've been in the orphanage for as long as I can remember." He explained.

We'd made it to the lake by that point so I found a place for us to sit down. Once he sat beside me, I spoke again. "What about your father? You're named after him, aren't you?"

He scoffed.

My cheeks turned red from embarrassment. "Sorry. I just… I know he's a Muggle and I know you hate him but I don't think you're any less of a wizard because you're a Halfblood."

"You don't?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, I really don't. I mean, Aubry and Orion and Will and Abraxas and Edmond and I all grew up around this kind of thing, we all grew up knowing about magic. But you just learned about this world a few years ago and you're already the smartest out of all of us. You're the top of our year, Tom. It's incredible."

"You don't think I don't deserve to be able to do magic?" He asked.

"You're not a damned Mudblood, Tom." I said.

"Neither is that Hufflepuff boy that likes you."

I rolled my eyes at the mention of the kid who had been following me around the castle for years since I'd told him how to get to the potions classroom first year. "That Hufflepuff boy can barely get his fork to his mouth at breakfast."

He laughed loudly. "Very true. He's one of the best at herbology though."

"One of the best. You seem to be forgetting I'm top of the class in herbology." I said coldly.

Tom smirked. "This is why I liked you when I first met you."

"My terrible attitude?" I asked.

"In more or less words. You're very good at picking out whom you deem worthy and getting rid of those who don't fit your criteria." He smiled. "You and Aubry both are very good at it. Aubry just pretends to be nicer so she can be Head Girl."

"She is nicer than me though. I mean, not by much, but she is slightly nicer." I said. "She's not as temperamental."

He laid back in the grass, one arm slung over his face to block the sun from his eyes. "You're both very useful."

"We're more than useful." I stated.

"You think I don't know that?" He challenged. "Do you think I keep you around merely because you're _useful_?"

I bit my lip. "I'm sorry. I just… I didn't like the way that sounded. We're both useful. It sounded degrading. I'm sure that's not how you meant it though. You know I get defensive sometimes."

He moved his arm from his face and smiled up at me. "Do you have any idea how much of a fool I would have to be to underestimate you, Van Middlesworth? If I weren't absolutely positive you wouldn't hurt me, I would probably be at least a little bit scared of you. Same goes for Aubry. You know you are useful, you both do, but you also know you're so much more than just useful. You wouldn't be a Slytherin if you thought you were merely useful."

I didn't speak.

"It didn't even take long when you were sorted. That damned hat barely touched your head before it knew. You're a true Slytherin and you know that. You're not just bloody useful. You're smart and you're cunning and you're manipulative and you're _dangerous._ You know that better than anyone else. You know what you can do." He said.

I smirked. "You keep Aubry and myself around because we're dangerous, Tom?"

"I'm very fond of people who remind me of myself. That's why I keep you around."


	4. Chapter 4

"I have completely lost feeling in both of my hands and I smell like polish. This has been the second worst night of my life and I have to repeat it six more times before it is over." I said.

"Second worst?" He asked. "And what was the first?"

I hesitated. I thought he would've been able to guess. "My sister… The werewolf-"

He cut me off. "Merlin, I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry, Celeste. I didn't mean to bring that up."

I shook my head. "It's okay. Call it even for what I brought up at the lake earlier."

He gave me a small smile as we climbed the stairs towards the seventh floor.

We arrived in the correct corridor just before half past eight. We stopped and waited, eyes closed.

A large wooden door appeared amidst the brick wall and Tom pushed it open, allowing me to step inside before him. He entered, pushed the door shut, and it disappeared behind us once more.

The Room was exactly what we had wanted, what we had needed. Almost.

It was decorated much like the common room but it was a bit warmer. There were more leather armchairs as well, and they were all positioned in a large circle. It was the perfect place for a meeting. Save for the fact that it was entirely empty.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

Tom looked at his watch. "Not sure. They have five minutes to get here."

I sat down in one of the armchairs, tucking my legs underneath me.

Tom sat in the chair beside mine.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked.

"I suppose that depends on exactly what you want to ask." He stated.

I smiled. "Would you like to come home with me over Christmas?"

He looked surprised.

"You don't have to." I said quickly. "I just thought it might be nice. You told me before that it gets lonely here and I'm sure mum wouldn't mind. Dad might take some convincing but I'm sure he'll come around."

"No, I want to. Aren't you worried that Aubry will feel left out?" He asked.

"Her family's coming the day after Christmas. Her parents will be there for a few days but her and Ashton will stay until it's time to come back. Abraxas and Edmond are coming, they do every year. Mum and Dad offered for Orion to come but his parents… Melania is not a fan of my mother. I'm not quite sure she likes me, either. That's why he's been distancing himself from me, from us, recently. His mother insists that we are too old for him to be spending time with and we're setting bad examples. I don't anticipate seeing him here tonight." I explained.

"How did you find this out?" He asked.

"Oh, _I_ didn't. Aubry did." I smirked.

Tom laughed. "I'm not surprised. She could charm a Dementor if she wanted to."

I grinned. "And a second year boy has no resolve whatsoever, especially when compared to a Dementor."

"I wonder if his sister and his cousin have anything to do with his mother's negative view of us…" He said thoughtfully.

I snorted. "Lucretia and Walburga? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. I know they both… Support your ideals, in a way. But they're worried about Orion getting into trouble. Although we all know he's more than capable of taking care of himself."

"That may be true. Regardless of who has changed his mind, he is replaceable." He stated.

I nodded. "I would just prefer it weren't necessary to replace him. It's difficult to go scouring the school for people like us. I mean, we'll do it. You know we will."

Then the door opened. I cringed for a moment, some part of me fearing that Dumbledore would somehow come walking through the door.

It was not Dumbledore.

First was Aubry, as usual, followed by Abraxas, Edmond, Ashton, Will, Avery, Nott, then the rest of the boys. Orion was not with them.

Aubry took a seat in the other open armchair beside Tom. Edmond sat next to me, Abraxas was beside Aubry. Will and Ashton sat on the ends of our group, forming what seemed like a barrier between us and the rest of the Knights of Walpurgis. I liked it that way.

Tom turned to Aubry. "Where was everyone?"

"Where weren't they? I had to search the entire damned castle to find Abraxas. We had to hide several times on the way here. Dumbledore is patrolling the halls for some reason. We need to talk after this." She said.

He nodded once before turning to the rest of the group. Everyone fell silent.

"Alright, Lestrange. The floor is yours." He stated.

Edmond straightened up in his chair and cleared his throat.

"My maternal grandmother passed away just before term started. Her and my grandfather have been living in Wales for years now. I missed the first week of classes because we went for the funeral. Apparently she knew Dumbledore, my grandmother did. He was there, probably just to save face." Edmond explained.

"Dumbledore was there?" Tom asked suddenly and then it clicked. "That's why he was gone the other day. He popped in for the funeral and came back."

Edmond nodded before continuing. "Anyways, he was talking to my father when he thought I wasn't listening. He mentioned you, Tom. Dumbledore said that he didn't have a good feeling about you, probably trying to get my dad to convince me to stay away from you. He mentioned Celeste and Aubry too. Mostly you, Cel. He seems to think you're… Problematic. He likes you, Aubry, he thinks you and I need to keep away. He said he's had a stern talking to with Orion, I think he's convinced him to spy. I don't know that we can trust him."

"Orion's a spy?" I asked, enraged. "Where is he right now?! Edmond Lestrange, you tell me where he is right now because I'm going to kill him."

I'd begun to stand but Tom grabbed my wrist and pulled me back into my seat. "Stop. Let him finish."

"I think Dumbledore is concerned. He wants someone to keep an eye on us, especially you and the girls." He said to Tom before turning to look directly at me. "Celeste, he really doesn't like you. He knows you're aggressive, the whole school knows that because we've all seen you on the quidditch pitch. But I think he suspects you're more than that. He wants to like you, I think, since he loves your parents. He told my father you're kind of like them. You're strong and talented and smart but you're vindictive. And Aubry, he thinks you're a risk. A small risk, but a risk none the less. Clearly he has no idea what you can really do. He said you're the smartest witch of our age but he thinks Tom and Celeste have swayed you. He thinks you girls are 'ahead of the times.' He doesn't like how independent and ambitious you are. It's very misogynistic, really. He told my father that you're both a threat by yourselves, but together, you are dangerous."

A snort from the other side of the room drew attention.

Aubry and I were already on our feet, wands out.

"I would be careful, Crabbe." Tom warned. "They are much more than just pretty faces."

"Dumbledore doesn't know anything. They're just girls. What can they do that we couldn't?" Crabbe inquired.

I was shaking.

"Only a fool would believe that Dumbledore is blind to everything going on here. Only a fool would underestimate him. A bigger fool would underestimate my girls." Tom was now standing. "There's a reason I chose them before I chose you, Crabbe. Keep that in mind. They can do more than you would think."

Crabbe and Nott laughed.

Aubry pointed her wand at Crabbe. " _Everte Statum."_

Suddenly the large boy was hurtling backwards across the room. He stopped when he smashed into the wall and fell to the floor, groaning in pain.

Nott jumped to his feet, pointing his wand towards her.

I flicked my wrist. " _Stupefy."_

I had underestimated the amount of strength I'd put behind the spell and was surprised to see him crumple to floor, completely unconscious.

Tom's laughter was the only sound in the room. "Beautiful, ladies, absolutely beautiful!"

Aubry and I smiled widely at him.

"Now that you've made your point, go on and fix them." He encouraged.

We sighed heavily. Aubry approached Crabbe and I walked towards Nott.

" _Rennervate._ " I muttered, pointing my wand at his chest.

With a sharp inhale, he sat up. When he saw me standing above him, he scooted backwards immediately, a look of fear on his face.

I heard Aubry say "Episkey" and a cry of pain when Crabbe's nose shifted back into place.

We stalked back to our seats and sat down.

Tom was still smiling.

After the commotion died down and everyone was sitting in their chairs, Tom asked Edmond if there was anything else we needed to know.

He shook his head. "No, not really. Just that he's watching closely. Aubry, he might try to get you to spy like Orion. You have to lie to him. You're the only one here that he would really listen to, for now anyways. Make him think that he's delirious for believing that we would be doing any of this. He's not daft but there's so much going on that he doesn't know, keep it that way."

She nodded. "Absolutely."

Edmond sat back in his chair, signaling that he was finished.

"Thank you, Edmond. Now, unless there's anything that someone would like to add, everyone should be off to bed." Tom said.

No one spoke so he dismissed them.

Will was the first to the door. He pulled it open before quickly shutting it.

"Dumbledore just walked down the opposite corridor." He said.

"Did he see you?" Tom asked.

Will shook his head. "No, he wasn't looking."

"Everyone will leave in pairs. Do not get caught. If you do, lie. No one is to know we were here." Tom said loudly and everyone listened.

Slowly the boys began disappearing in pairs before it was only Tom, Aubry, Edmond, and myself.

"Aubry, you wanna go?" I asked.

Tom shook his head. "She needs to fill me in."

"Oh, I see. Don't forget the thing about the Ravenclaw boy." I reminded.

She nodded. "Right. See you in the common room?"

"Obviously." I smiled.

Edmond and I were about to leave when Tom stopped us.

"When you leave here, take the corridor on the right, the go left. There will be a large, blue tapestry at the end of that corridor. There's a passage that will take you straight to the dungeons and open at the green tapestry just outside the common room. It's dark in the passage so be careful. It's a bit high up, hard to climb into, Edmond, you might have to help Celeste. And I am trusting you to get her back to the common room without incident, are we understood?"

Edmond nodded. "Yes, Tom. I wouldn't think of letting anything happen."

"Good. Run, the prefects will be patrolling soon. It's near curfew."

Edmond offered me his arm and I held his wrist tightly. He lead me out of the room after ensuring the corridor was empty.

We began running and reached the tapestry Tom had mentioned in just a few seconds. Edmond pulled the tapestry away from the wall and surely enough, there was a passage there. The opening was as high as he'd said it would be and I was far too short to get myself in.

Edmond's hands gripped my waist and he lifted me up, allowing me to latch onto the wall and pull myself through. My feet found the floor and he released me before clambering over himself.

When the tapestry fell back into place it was almost pitch black.

I produced my wand. " _Lumos Maxima."_

Then we could see. The passage was long and dark and it slowly descended. We followed it hesitantly. The dark, confined area made me a bit uneasy so I clutched Edmond's hand tightly as we walked.

I expressed my condolences for the loss of his grandmother and he thanked me with a small smile.

"You really do have to be careful about Dumbledore." He said. "He's going to be watching you closely for a while now. And don't tell Orion anything. Actually, tell him the exact opposite of every single plan you have. Lead him and Dumbledore on some false path. If Tom is at one end of the castle, tell Orion he's at the other."

I smirked. "I'll be sure to do that. If I let Orion keep breathing."

"Tom's right about you and Aubry, you're not just pretty faces." He laughed.

We'd reached the end of the passage and I could see the back of the green tapestry. The opening wasn't as high there and I could step over by myself. I pushed the tapestry away from the wall and Edmond and I snuck out from behind it. We rushed down the corridor and into the common room.

He bade me goodnight before walking up the stairs towards the boys' rooms. I sunk down on the plush leather sofa and waited for Aubry and Tom to return.

 **(Aubry's POV)**

"What do you have for me?" Tom asked when Edmond and Celeste disappeared from the room.

I crossed my legs carefully and turned towards him. "I've been planning times we could go looking for the chamber again. No one is ever in the transfiguration corridor right after dinner, at all. No professors, no students. We can take that corridor straight down right after dinner and no one would be the wiser."

"Really?" He asked, his eyes lighting up a fraction. "Why is no one patrolling?"

I shrugged. "I guess because everyone's eating and they don't anticipate students using the corridor afterward."

"What's your take on what Edmond said?"

"I think he's right. I think Dumbledore is getting uncomfortable close to our trail and we need to stop him. But if he has Orion… We have to be careful, Tom. If Orion is a traitor, who knows who else could be? Surely not Abraxas or Will or Ashton or Edmond. I doubt Avery would pull anything like that. But Crabbe and Nott could be trying to get on Dumbledore's good side. They give him tips and in return, he passes them. It's very possible." I explained. "Perhaps we should keep these meetings more exclusive."

He grinned. "I think you're right, especially that last bit."

"I'll try to find out what everyone else is up to. Letting them run wild when Dumbledore's so keen to spy is too much of a risk."

My stomach growled loudly and I sighed.

"Where were you at dinner?" He asked. "Celeste and I thought you'd ditched us."

"I was in my room. I've taken some notes on where teachers and prefects are at what times. I was going over them so I could tell you." I explained.

He stood up from his chair and offered me his arm. "Come on."

I held his arm lightly. "Where are we going?"

"The kitchens, you need some food." He said.

I smiled. "Thank you."

He shook his head. "Thank you. You're keeping us on track, keeping me on track. And you're doing a beautiful job of it."

I giggled. "I try."

Tom was leading me down an empty corridor when he spoke again. "What you did earlier was impressive."

I blushed. "Thanks. I didn't mean to fly off the handle, I just got angry. I don't like being underestimated."

"I thought Crabbe and Nott would know better." He stated. "Especially after those hexes you used on them second year."

I smiled at the memory. "I told them to stop throwing snowballs and they didn't."

Tom peeked around a corner before tugging me behind him. We were now standing in front of the portrait that lead to the kitchens.

He reached up and with one finger, he tickled the pear. The pear began to giggle and then transformed into a green doorknob. Ashton was right when he told Tom.

He turned the doorknob and pushed it open. As we entered, a small house elf padded towards us.

"Good evening, Mr Riddle, it's very nice to see you." She said.

I smiled at him. "Do this a lot, Tom?"

He winked. "Shhh."

"You must be Ms Desrosier!" She chirped. "You look very much like your mother. Hokey remembers Ms Malfoy very well, you are beautiful like her."

I smiled brightly. "Thank you."

"Hokey, my friend here missed dinner this evening, could you get her something to eat?" Tom asked overwhelmingly sweetly.

Hokey was smiling up at him. "Yes, Mr Riddle."

She turned her wide eyes to me. "What can Hokey get for you, Ms Desrosier?"

"A sandwich and a cup of tea would be lovely." I said.

Hokey nodded and bounded off across the room.

That's when I realized just how large the room was. It was the exact size of the Great Hall and held five tables, each in the same position as the ones in the hall above.

Tom guided me towards what would be the Slytherin table and we sat down. A minute later Hokey came running towards us, holding a plate full of sandwiches, a kettle of tea, and two cups.

She placed in front of us and I thanked her before she disappeared.

"Thank you for bringing me down here." I said, lifting a sandwich from the plate and taking a bite.

Tom smiled. "Anytime. We can't have you going to bed hungry."

He poured us two cups of tea and I thanked him again.

"What do you think we'll find in the chamber?" I asked quietly.

He lifted a sandwich for himself and took a bite. He chewed slowly, thinking the whole time. "I can't be sure. It wouldn't be a dragon, I don't believe. But I think it might be a basilisk."

"Really?" I breathed.

"It's possible. I mean, it is Salazar Slytherin's chamber after all. What better beast than a basilisk?" He shrugged.

"That's why you were so focused on that passage about in your book. You've known for days now." I smiled.

He chuckled. "I didn't think you'd noticed."

I took another bite of my sandwich. "I think we should go looking again as soon as you and Celeste get done with your detentions."

He nodded. "I agree. However, Aubry, I think you might want to hold off some of the times we go."

"Why would I do something ridiculous like that?" I said.

"Think about it, every time you get caught, that's less of a chance you have of becoming Head Girl. This is so important to you and Celeste and I won't be able to cover for you all the time. Eventually Dippet will start giving you detentions and possibly decide you can't be Head Girl. It's vital that you stay in Dippet and Dumbledore's good graces." He explained quickly, his tone firm.

I sighed but nodded. "You're right. But I'm not going to sit back every time you go to do something. I want to be involved, I want to help. I want to be there. If you expect me to just stop going every time, you are sorely mistaken."

I thought he would be angry at the last remark but he just smiled. "There's that attitude."

"Hush."

He wrapped his left arm loosely around my waist and we ate a few more sandwiches and drank our tea.

When we were finished, we stood up to leave. Hokey came running to clear our dishes and I thanked her again before following Tom from the kitchen. We snuck down the corridors and back to the common room in silence.

We entered the common room to find Celeste on the sofa. She'd clearly planned to stay up and wait for us but she'd fallen asleep, her head resting on an open book.

Tom carefully removed the book and replaced it with a plush throw pillow. He shrugged out of his robes and draped them over her sleeping form. She stirred lightly but merely tugged the robes tighter around her shoulders and went still.

He turned to me and whispered. "Off to bed, alright? I'll see you at breakfast."

"Goodnight." I whispered.

"Goodnight, Aubry." He said as I disappeared up the stairs.

 **AN:** Again, I want to say thank you guys so much for reading. Please review. Knowing what you guys think truly means the world to me. I'm going to try to keep updating regularly and I'll let you know if I plan on taking a break of any sort. Thanks again! xx


	5. Chapter 5

Aubry was laughing as she and Tom told me about their trip to the kitchens the night before. I found it amusing to know that Tom often snuck down at night for a cup of tea and any sweets he could get his hands on.

"Why were you so nice to Hokey? You don't like house elves." Aubry asked him.

"The last thing I need is to offend one of them and have them complaining to Dippet about rude students invading the kitchens at night. The last thing any of us needs is a larger target on one of our backs." He explained.

I took a drink of pumpkin juice and peered across the table at Aubry. "You said Hokey remembers your mother?"

She nodded. "Yeah. She said I was beautiful like her, and she's not wrong."

I laughed. "I wonder if Hokey also knows you're related to Abraxas, then."

"What difference does it make?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Well, it's probably not relevant but something to keep in mind for the future. If Dumbledore finds out you two were down there together, it would only be one step further to remind him who your parents are. Then it's just connecting the dots. He would realize – if he hasn't already – that you and Abraxas are cousins. Then suddenly he's keeping an eye on Abraxas. Not to mention he's probably already looking at Will and Ashton. And he's uncomfortably close with Edmond's family."

Tom was focused intently on what I'd said. "You might be right. It's not like Brax would let Dumbledore get to him but we certainly don't need a watchful eye kept on him. Celeste, can you talk to him? Tell him about this conversation, convince him to spend some time around some other people. Who's that Ravenclaw girl you know? Abbott? Get them talking. If Dumbledore sees him spending time around her he might think that he's not as involved with us."

I nodded. "Got it."

"Cel, who is that boy that's staring at you?" Aubry asked, peering over my shoulder.

Tom's head snapped up instantly and I turned around to look.

I did not recognize the blond haired Gryffindor boy who was staring at me and I did not care to know who he was.

Tom was glaring at him.

"Hey, calm down. It's fine. I can take care of him if I have to." I said.

He looked down at his mostly empty plate. "I don't like the way he's looking at you."

"Well, I'm not necessarily too fond of it either but it is the least of our concerns right now." I reminded. "We have detention again this evening and have made no further progress in our exploration."

Tom sighed. "Yeah, I know, I know."

I noticed the hall was beginning to empty so I stood up and grabbed my bag. "I forgot my Ancient Runes assignment so I have to run and get that. I'll see you in class, okay?"

Tom and Aubry nodded and I hurried out of the great hall.

After rushing through a few corridors, a voice called out to me and I spun around to see who it was.

It was the Gryffindor boy that had a staring problem.

"Can I help you?" I sighed.

"I'm hoping you can. I'm awful at herbology and I know you're top of the class. I was wondering if you could tutor me." He explained.

I was a bit surprised, to say the least. "Honestly, I really don't have time. There's this Hufflepuff kid who's really smart though, maybe you could ask him to tutor you. He's kind of tall, light brown hair. I think his name is something Tate."

The boy shook his head. "No, no. I want you specifically to tutor me."

"Well, too bad for you because it's not going to happen." I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest.

He smirked and stepped towards me. "What makes you think that you can say no to me?"

"The fact that I very well can." I spat. "Now, it might be in your best interests to stay away from me."

"And if I don't? That boyfriend of yours going to come after me?" He chided.

I squinted. "Boyfriend?"

"Riddle." He sneered.

"He's not my boyfriend and I hardly need him to take care of you for me. But if you're so adamant about dueling Tom, I can be sure to get the message to him. If I decide to let you walk away, that is. You see, boys like you seem to have a very bad habit of underestimating me and it's beginning to seriously make me mad. You should feel lucky that I was able to get some of my anger out yesterday because I'm feeling a bit more patient now. However, if I were you, I would reconsider whatever you're thinking about doing next. I will not hesitate to curse you." I warned.

He smirked and I let my wand slide down the inside of my sleeve into my waiting palm. He didn't even notice.

I desperately wanted to step back from him. His size was intimidating. He towered over me by nearly a foot and his shoulders were almost twice as broad. But I couldn't back up because he would think I was scared. And I wasn't scared, not really. As long as I had my wand, I knew I was more than safe.

"You're not very bright are you?" He asked.

"Pardon?" I gasped. "If I'm not bright then what are you? Considering you're here asking for my tutoring, you don't have place to comment on how bright I am."

"Do you have any idea who I'm related to?" He sneered.

I rolled my eyes. "I can assure you that I don't give a damn."

Something dangerous flickered in his muddy brown eyes.

I instinctively raised my wand, pointing it directly at his chest.

My wand went flying from my hand and landed on the floor. He'd smacked my hand away from him before I could even react. And then I was defenseless, wand laying ten feet out of reach.

"Nonverbal? Impressive." I admitted, trying to shield my fear.

"Grindelwald." He growled.

"Come again?" I asked.

"Who I'm related to… Grindelwald."

My breath caught.

He noticed. "Bet you didn't expect that, did you? I bet you didn't expect the blood of a great Dark wizard to be walking these halls. In a red and gold tie, nonetheless. You know all about him, don't you? Gellert? His ties to Dumbledore? He trusts me, Dumbledore does. I'm sure he'd love to hear what you and your little friends have been up to. Sneaking around to the Room of Requirement, running down secret passageways. I bet he'd love to know that you stunned Nott into unconsciousness."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

He smirked. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Although it's definitely unexpected from you. You and that other girl… I think there's a lot more to you than meets the eye. You're both bloody gorgeous. But you already know that, love."

"Don't call me that." I snapped.

"Of course you already know. I bet you're used to it at this point, boys throwing themselves at you. Everyone knows about that incident last year… About that prefect finding you locked in a broom closet with a fifth year Ravenclaw boy? What were you doing in there?" He asked.

I scoffed. "Surely not what you're thinking."

"And your friend, Aubry… She didn't get in trouble for it but plenty of people know about her sneaking around with Lestrange. What about them?"

"If you're going to continue insinuating that my friend and I are whores, you should rethink speaking." I warned.

Suddenly I was slammed against the cold brick wall, my bag falling from my shoulder with a thud and my head smacking into the wall hard enough that my vision went black for a second. "I'm not insinuating anything, you silly girl. I'm trying to get it across to you that I want you and your friend for myself. What could Riddle offer the two of you that I couldn't?"

I began laughing. "Did you know that telling a girl you're interested in her does a lot better than stalking her down corridors and harassing her?"

"And if I'd said so, if I'd asked you out, would you have said yes?" He asked, his eyes hopefully.

I laughed harder. "Of course not. You're a fucking lunatic."

I blinked my eyes and hands were around my throat. I couldn't breathe. I could not breathe. I did not have my wand and I could not breathe and I was sure I was going to die right there.

Part of me was desperate for someone, anyone, to come down the corridor. I would empty my father's Gringott's vault to have Dumbledore come striding down the hall and help me. I silently prayed for Tom, hoping somehow he would know I was in trouble. He always seemed to know when Aubry and I needed him, and I really needed him then.

Another part of me desperately wanted to handle the situation myself, wanted to fight him away from me, grab my wand and make him pay. I wanted his hands to slide from my neck and for him to fall to the floor and I wanted him to hurt. I wanted to make him hurt. I wanted him to feel absolute agony.

I could breathe again. The hands around my neck had disappeared. The Gryffindor was on the floor, shocked at how he'd gotten there. I looked around to see who'd cast the spell that got him off of me and I saw Tom coming towards us, his wand drawn.

I almost fell to the floor, my pride being the only thing that kept me on my feet. I grabbed my wand and bag from the floor quickly.

Tom gently pushed me behind him. His wand still pointed at the Gryffindor boy.

I was suddenly aware of the tears on my cheeks and the fact that I was breathing overwhelmingly fast. I was almost sure I was going to pass out.

I heard multiple sets of footsteps behind me and turned to see Edmond, Abraxas, and Aubry come rushing down the hall.

Tom continued staring at the boy as he spoke. "Edmond, please escort Celeste to the common room to retrieve her Ancient Runes assignment and then to class. Abraxas, you are responsible for Aubry. Go now."

Edmond grabbed my hand and swiftly walked me down the corridor. I was still disoriented when we arrived in the common room.

I was vaguely aware of being pushed into a chair.

Edmond spoke my name but I could not find my words.

"Celeste, look at me. Celeste!" His voice was slowly becoming clear.

"Celeste, hey, listen. Just listen to my voice. You're fine, you're safe. We're in the common room. You're fine."

"I'm fine." I finally said.

I opened my eyes to see Edmond kneeling on the ground in front of me, his hands on my shoulders.

"Yes, you are." He nodded.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Thank you."

He nodded again. "Can you stand?"

I stood carefully, not fully trusting my legs. I was steady enough.

I made my way towards the stairs and up to my dorm. My runes assignment was lying on my bed. I stuffed the parchment into my bag and walked back down the stairs. Edmond was waiting patiently.

He grabbed my hand once more and walked me to class.

When we entered the room, Tom beckoned me over. I took the open seat beside him after thanking Edmond who took the seat beside Aubry.

"Are you alright?" Tom asked.

I nodded. "I am fine."

"Your throat is bruised." He commented.

"What did you do to him?" I asked.

He hesitated. "He has been taken care of."

"What did you do?" I repeated. "Did you hurt him?"

Again, he hesitated.

"If you did not leave him in agony then I need you to tell me where he is so that I can finish the job." I stated.

He smirked. "He was plenty of pain, I promise."

"If he touches me again I will kill him. Even if he gets my wand away from me again. I'll rip his throat out with my bare hands."

"Don't you think that's a bit messy?" He teased.

I finally smiled.

"I have a question."

I quirked an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

He smiled. "Did you ask your parents about bringing me home for Christmas? I'm quite looking forward to it."

"I did! Mum and Dad are excited to meet you. Daddy will probably try to scare you at first because you're a boy. Humor him and pretend to be afraid at first. He'll warm up quickly, I'm sure." I said.

"Thank you for inviting me." He said quietly.

My smile returned. "Thank you for agreeing to come. If all goes well, perhaps we can do this every year."

He nodded. "Definitely."

Class was called to attention so the conversation was brought to an end.

After Ancient Runes, I had a free period while Tom and Aubry were in divination. Once again, Edmond was entrusted to look after me.

Part of me was angry about needing security but another part of me was happy to have someone look out for me. I had never felt so helpless than when I didn't have my wand. There was nothing I could do. I was not strong enough.

Edmond and I were sitting in a secluded corner of the library when I asked him a question. "How hard do you think it is to learn wandless magic?"

"I think it would be difficult but it's definitely possible. You're well-disciplined when it comes to magic so I think you could learn. It will definitely take some time but I'm sure you could do it." He said.

I smiled. "I hope so."

"That really scared you didn't it? What happened this morning?" He asked.

I nodded. "More than I'd like to admit."

"Between Tom, Abraxas, Will, Ashton, Aubry, and myself, he's not going to get near you again. That's a promise. Tom has asked that I escort you everywhere, at least when he can't. I hope you won't be getting sick of me." He said.

I giggled. "Thank you. And I'm sure I won't get sick of you, Edmond. You're one of my best friends."

Edmond reached over and took one of my hands in both of his. "I've got you. No matter what."

 **A/N: I am so incredibly sorry that I took so long to update. There was a lot going on and I had zero motivation to write but I'm back now. I'm sorry about any typos or anything because I stayed up pretty late to finish this up just so that I could update. As I said, I'm very sorry. Please review and let me know what you guys think. And thank you so, so much for reading. xx**


	6. Chapter 6

My hands were shaking as I walked down the corridor alone. I found myself glancing over my shoulder every few seconds. Even the smallest of sounds made my feet move faster and before long I was set in a dead sprint.

Where was I? What floor was I on? What corridor was I in? I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and in my fear, I'd gotten myself lost.

"Shit." I whimpered, running around a hand through my hair and stopping in the middle of the corridor. I spun around, looking for something, anything to tell me where I was.

The paintings were all asleep, the corridor was dim. The only light came from the moon shining through the castle windows.

I went to reach into the pocket of my robes to grab my wand when I realized I wasn't wearing my robes. I was dressed in the rest of my uniform but my robes were missing. My hands fluttered as I patted my hips, my stomach, my back, each and every hem of clothing where I may have tucked it. Where was my wand? I needed my wand.

My heart was pounding in my chest and my hands were shaking rapidly. I couldn't catch my breath. _I could not catch my breath._

Footsteps echoed down an adjacent corridor. Someone was there. They weren't going to help me. I could tell they weren't going to help me.

There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. They were going to see me. They were going to hurt me. I ran to the side of the corridor as quietly as I could and tried to flatten myself against the wall.

They were sure to hear my breathing and I tried so hard to hold my breath. If my breathing didn't give me away, my pounding heart was sure to do it.

The stone wall was frigid against my back and I was suddenly aware of the fact that I was sweating. I was hot, so hot.

I saw a figure appear at the end of the corridor and I froze. I thought for sure that every single part of my body was going to shut down. My heart, my lungs. They were stopping.

Bile rose up in the back of my throat. I had never been so scared in my life.

They hadn't seen me yet. _Maybe_ they would just keep walking. _Maybe_ they would walk to the next corridor and they wouldn't even see me or notice me and I would be _safe._

I could see their head moving, the glint of their eyes scanning the dark corridor.

Then they stopped. They stopped and they were looking at me, directly at me. And I could see one corner of their mouth raise up into a terrifying smirk.

I wanted to scream but when I opened my mouth, no sound came out. I couldn't scream, I couldn't force myself to move away from the wall. I was frozen, paralyzed. And I was sure I was going to die.

I tried to scream again but there was still no sound. It felt like my throat was closed off. I couldn't breathe or scream or _run._ All I wanted was to take off down the corridor as fast as I possibly could. I didn't care if I was lost, I didn't care if I didn't know where I was going. I just needed to get away from the person at the end of the corridor.

The figure was coming towards me, moving at a casual pace that made my skin crawl and my hair stand on end. There was something so familiar about them. I had seen them before. I knew them.

They were getting closer. _Ten feet away, five feet, two feet._ My eyes closed instinctively and I felt two hands grip my arms tightly. I could feel breath on my face.

"Look at me."

The voice was so _familiar_. I couldn't place it but I knew it. I knew the voice.

My eyes opened and I was face to face with Gryffindor boy from the day before. Tom had promised me he was taken care of so why was he harassing me again. Tom had _promised_.

I whimpered, not being able to make any other sound. I felt like prey. Like a zebra hunted by a hungry lion. I did not want to be the zebra.

My eyes had closed again, squeezed shut so tightly, hoping that maybe, _just maybe_ , when I opened them he would be gone.

He wasn't. He was too close, _too fucking close_. And I couldn't run. Not with the grip he had on my arms or the way I couldn't figure out how to move my feet.

His fingers were cutting off circulation and my arms were absolutely _aching_. I knew that the moment he let go I would be able to feel the blood burn through my arms again and maybe I would be able to move.

His face moved closer to mine, his lips disgustingly close my ear. I could feel his breath on my face, my neck. It felt dirty and wrong and dangerous.

He spoke my name. "Celeste."

Then it happened. Something changed. I could move, I could speak. My mouth opened and I gathered all of the air in my lungs _and I screamed_.

I screamed so loud that the boy bounded back away from me and I was sure you could hear me from anywhere in the castle and someone was sure to come help me.

And then when I opened my eyes, I was sitting in a soft leather armchair in the Slytherin common room. A book was lying open in my lap.

Tom was kneeling on the floor in front of me, his hands holding mine and his eyes scanning over my face. "Celeste, it's okay. You're okay. It was just a nightmare."

I was still breathing heavy, my hands were shaking in Tom's, and I could feel strands of hair sticking to my sweat slicked neck.

It couldn't have been a dream. It was real. So real. I could still feel his breath on my skin and the ache the fear had caused in my chest. I was too scared for it to have been a dream. But it was. It was a dream. _Only a dream._

"Nightmare." I muttered, my throat curiously dry. "Right."

His grip on my hands tightened. "Celeste, are you okay?"

I shook my head before I could tell myself not to.

"What happened in the dream?" He asked me.

"I – He was – I was lost somewhere in the castle; a place I didn't recognize. And he was – was there. Followed – no, chased – chased me. I didn't have my wand. I was scared. He – I froze. Couldn't run."

Aubry was standing behind Tom with a pained look on her face. "The boy from yesterday?"

I nodded slowly, deliberately. "Yes – yes, it was him. Didn't do magic – not this time. Touched me, though. Grabbed me."

"She's in shock." Tom muttered, not speaking to me but to my best friend.

His hands dropped mine and he threw the book from my lap, his arms slid around my shoulders and behind my knees. I was vaguely aware of the fact that I was no longer sitting in the chair I had fallen asleep in.

Aubry ran ahead of Tom and myself, wrenching the door of the common room open and holding it as Tom walked through.

The clock chimed midnight before the door swung shut.

"Where – where are you taking me?" I asked, clutching the front of Tom's white button down, wrinkling the material.

"The infirmary. You need a calming draught." He explained.

I shook my head weakly.

"Don't argue." He said before I could even try to speak.

I was so tired. I wanted to rest. But I knew I wouldn't sleep – bad things tended to happen when I tried to sleep. I hated the infirmary, hated being coddled. I was fine, I was sure I would be fine.

I still felt like I was going to be sick. I could still feel my heart surging in my chest. I wasn't sure if I was breathing. It didn't feel like I was but when I looked down, I could see my chest rising and falling rapidly, shallowly.

I was most certainly _not okay_.

"I want my mother." I whispered. "Can I see my mother?"

Aubry turned to glance at me as she was walking. "I'll write her tonight once you're taken care of, I promise."

"No, I want her now. I want my mom. She'll make it better. She always – always makes it better." I realized I was crying, sobbing actually.

Tom looked down at me, his eyes locking on mine. I could see so much concern, so much kindness. I trusted him to take care of me, I trusted him with everything.

"Thank – Thank you for – For helping me." I whispered. "My friends – best friends."

My eyelids felt like lead. They were heavy, _so heavy_. I couldn't close them; I was too scared to close them.

I heard another door being pushed open followed by voices, panicked voices. I thought I could hear Aubry crying and I hated the sound. I did not want her to cry.

I could feel the rumble of his speaking through Tom's chest but I could not understand his words.

Soft sheets tickled my bare legs as I was placed on a bed that was not mine. A hand was behind my head, guiding me gently down onto the pillow.

Tom's hands disappeared and I was scared again.

I reached out, searching. He grabbed my hand again.

"It's okay. I'm here."

Another voice spoke.

"A calming draught is all I can do. After that, she needs rest."

"Celeste, you need to drink this potion. It will help." Tom said and I could feel the cold glass of a vial being pressed to my lips.

I didn't have the energy to fight it so I opened my mouth and drank it. It was bitter and slimy.

Within moments I could feel it. My heart slowed, I could breathe, my head was clear. I felt so much better but I was so tired.

Tom was sitting on the edge of the bed next to me. His hand still holding mine. Aubry was standing at the foot of the bed, one hand nervously twisting a strand of hair around her fingers. I was acutely aware of the tear tracks on her cheeks.

"Can I go back to the common room?" I asked.

The matron looked me over and made sure that I was okay then cocked her hands on her hips. "I should say no."

I frowned. "Please? I feel better, really. I just want to sleep in my bed."

She gave me a stern look. "Fine, but you best go straight to bed."

I nodded. "I will, I promise."

Tom helped me stand up from the bed and looped his arm around my waist, holding me tightly. Aubry stood on my other side, clutching my hand.

"We've got you." She whispered and I smiled.

"I know."

They helped me out of the infirmary and through the castle. Once we got to the common room, we had to part ways. Since Tom couldn't come into the girls' dormitory, he bade us goodnight and Aubry helped me change into my pajamas and crawl into bed.

She was about to walk back out of the dorm when I spoke. "You don't have to write to my mother. I'm fine, really."

Aubry smiled. "Okay. Just promise you'll tell her about it next time you write home?"

I huffed but agreed. "I guess I can do that."

She turned to leave but I spoke again. "Thank you."

Aubry smiled. "Of course. Goodnight, Celeste."

"Goodnight." I chirped, finally relaxing into the mattress.

I was asleep before she'd even closed the door.

The next morning, Aubry woke me up with a gentle shake.

I opened my eyes and peered up at her. "G'morning."

"How do you feel?" She asked.

"Okay, I guess. Better than last night." I said.

She gave me a small smile. "Tom's waiting in the common room. Do you need help getting ready?"

I shook my head. "I'll be okay. Thank you."

"Take your time, we'll wait for you and then we can go to breakfast together."

I pushed myself into a sitting position. "Thanks, Aubry. Just give me like five minutes to get dressed."

She nodded and left the room. All of the girls we shared our dorm with were already dressed and at breakfast so I just hopped up from my bed and changed into a clean set of clothes. I pulled on my robes and retrieved my wand from the bedside table, stuffing it up my sleeve like usual.

I checked my reflection in a small hand mirror that I kept in my trunk. There were dark circles under my eyes and I was uncharacteristically pale. With a sigh, I put the mirror away and grabbed my bag, slinging it over my shoulder and walking out to the common room.

Aubry and Tom were sitting on the leather sofa talking quietly but they both jumped up when I walked in.

Tom rushed towards me, taking my face in his hands, turning my head gently and examining my face. "How do you feel?"

"Better." I said. "Thank you."

He nodded and smiled. "You're welcome."

Tom dropped his hands from my face and the three of us left the common room and headed into the Great Hall.

We found Edmond and Abraxas and took seats across the table from them.

"Heard you took a trip to the infirmary last night." Abraxas said, staring at me from the other side of a tray of eggs. "What the fuck happened?"

I chuckled. Abraxas Malfoy was not known for being delicate. "It was just a nightmare. I kind of panicked and couldn't – stop panicking. I just needed a calming draught."

"You're okay, right?" Edmond asked.

I nodded. "Yes, absolutely."

"You look tired." Abraxas said.

"I'm aware that I look less than perfect today, Abraxas. Thank you ever so much." I said and Tom laughed beside me.

"Come on, Celeste. You know I didn't mean it like that." He whined.

I smiled. "Brax, calm down. I'm fucking with you."

He smiled back at me. "Alright, I guess I deserve it."

"Miss Van Middlesworth."

I turned to see Dumbledore standing behind me. "Good morning, professor."

"Might I ask you to come with me for a moment? Headmaster Dippet and I would like a word. I assure you we'll be done in time for you to finish your breakfast."

I nodded. "Of course, professor."

I stood up, slung my bag over my shoulder, and followed Dumbledore to Dippet's office.

"Ah, Miss Van Middlesworth." Dippet said when we walked in. "I've received word you were taken to the infirmary late last night."

"Yes, sir. Tom, Aubry and I had been studying in the common room and I fell asleep in one of the chairs. I had a bad nightmare and I was in a panic. They took me to the infirmary for a calming draught." I explained, already tired of telling the story. "I'm quite alright now."

"Might I ask the nature of this nightmare?" Dumbledore asked.

"Werewolves." I lied easily. "Ever since my sister was killed, I've had nightmares about werewolves. Sometimes they stop but they always end up coming back. They have quite the awful effect on me."

They both avoided my gaze for a moment, probably feeling bad for asking about such a personal issue.

"If you continue having nightmares, Miss Van Middlesworth, please do let us know. Perhaps there is something that can be done to rid you of these dreams." Dippet said.

I nodded. "Thank you, sir, I'll keep that in mind."

"You can return to your breakfast, Celeste." Dumbledore said.

"Thank you. I'll see you in class, professor. Have a good morning, headmaster."

I left the office and took off down the corridor, feeling more annoyed than anything. I was rounding the corner when a hand grabbed my arm, pulling me to a stop and causing me to drop my bag.

I gasped loudly and cringed away from the person, closing my eyes.

"Celeste, it's just me."

Tom.

I opened my eyes and fought the urge to glare at him. "Could you not do that?"

He frowned. "My apologies. I didn't realize you were still so on edge. Are you alright?"

"Once my heart starts beating again I'm sure I'll be fine." I sighed. "So, what made you feel the need to scare the wits out of me before nine a.m.?"

Tom lifted my bag from the ground and slung it over his shoulder. "I thought I would escort you to your lessons today. I'd like to speak with you."

"Oh." I spoke. "About what, exactly?"

"Follow me." He said.

And I did.

We didn't speak as we made our way through the corridors. I followed him silently until we reached the empty astronomy tower.

Tom dropped our bags in the middle of the vast room before turning around to face me. He looked troubled, to say the least. I wanted to speak, to ask what was wrong, but I wasn't sure he would answer me. So I waited for him to speak instead.

"Aubry and I are going to look for the Chamber this evening." He said.

I nodded. "Perfect. What time are we going?"

Tom shook his head. "No, Celeste. Aubry and I only."

I cocked my head to the side. "Excuse me? Why am I not part of this?"

"You're still shaken up from your nightmare. You should take this opportunity to get some rest."

I rolled my eyes. "No, no. Absolutely not. If you're going, then so am I. I'm not just going to sit back, Tom."

The look on his face was enough to make me rethink arguing with him. Instead, I took a softer approach.

"Tom, please." I whispered.

"I knew you would react this way." He said.

"Because you know that I want this as much as you do. No more Mudbloods, the way Salazar Slytherin wanted it. It would be perfect, absolutely perfect. And _we_ have a chance to make that happen. You, me, Aubry. We can all do this." I explained.

He smiled at me. "You're right. You're absolutely right. But that doesn't change anything. You need to rest."

I folded my arms over my chest and sighed. "If you think I'm going to get any rest whatsoever while the two most important people in my life are off gallivanting about the castle basement, then you are very wrong. And what if something happens? What if that boy comes after me again? What if I have another nightmare?"

"Lestrange will be with you." Tom said.

"I don't want Lestrange!" I nearly shouted. "I want _you._ "

He looked taken aback at first but then his smile only seemed to grow. His arms reached out and he pulled me into a hug, crushing me against his chest and wrapping his arms tightly around my waist.

I giggled and squeezed back.

After a moment, he stepped away a tiny bit, his hands still holding my shoulders. Then he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead which caused my cheeks to burn with a blush. "We meet in the entrance hall directly after dinner. Don't be late."


End file.
